The Last Request
by pengz
Summary: Because everyone deserves to have a happy ending.  HGFW & RWLL    Updated 080207
1. Prologue in Five Parts

**Last Request**

By: pengz

Disclaimer: Don't own much but the clothes on my back, really. :

A/N: While reading this 'fic, please disregard the Epilogue. I liked it, it just doesn't fit with my 'fic is all.

**A Prologue in Five Parts**

Our story begins with a prologue in five parts. These five parts are actually the swirling memories of one Miss Hermione Granger. They tell of secret bonds, lives, and moments that were never appreciated to their truest value. You'll see there's a double meaning in every movement, hear a quiet whisper under every word.

From there, we'll move to the first chapter that takes place at the first dawn of a new age in the wizarding world, the morning after Voldemort's defeat. Let our adventure begin...


	2. Prologue Part One: The White Tomb

**Last Request**

By: pengz

Disclaimer: Don't own much but the clothes on my back, really. :

A/N: While reading this 'fic, please disregard the Epilogue. I liked it, it just doesn't fit with my 'fic is all.

**Prologue Part One: The White Tomb**

"_Hermione, we have to tell Harry what we mean to do, even if he doesn't want us to go. We're going, right?"_

_The girl sitting before Ronald Weasley was still wiping tears from her eye as she nodded in agreement. "We'll just about ... us ... later, won't we?", she whispered almost inaudibly. But Ron heard had heard her and smiled reassuringly. _

"_We'll talk about us after you come back from your parents's, I promise we will."_

_As Ron led her towards the lake and Harry, she glanced back to see a familiar red-head slipping back towards the castle, a bit apart from the rest. He waved covertly, she smiled. The comfort of that moment would have to last her a while._

---

Tell me if it's any good.

xxx

pengz


	3. Prologue Part Two: The Pretenses

**Last Request**

By: pengz

Disclaimer: Don't own much but the clothes on my back, really. :

A/N: While reading this 'fic, please disregard the Epilogue. I liked it, it just doesn't fit with my 'fic is all.

**Prologue Part Two: The Pretenses**

_A chilly mid-July morning found Hermione Granger on the doorstep of the Burrow. Not moments later, she was whisked inside by a fussing Mrs. Weasley._

"_Oh, dear, you look so pale!", she exclaimed, brushing a motherly touch upon Hermione's cheek. "Come into the kitchen for a sandwich, that should bring some color to your face." Mrs. Weasley smiled kindly at her as they made their way into what was easily the happiest part of the Burrow. "Ron! Ron, come down, Hermione's arrived!", she called up the stairs after handing Hermione a plate with what looked like a small hill of sandwiches._

_There was a deafening ruckus as a pair of feet thundered down from the very top of the Burrow to the kitchen. Ron arrived in a short bound from the stairs, smiling wickedly at one of his best friends. _

"_Took you long enough," he joked, settling down at the table across from Hermione, who grinned in a strained sort of manner._

_Mrs. Weasley glared at her youngest son, "Ronald! She could have been longer if she wanted. The poor girl doesn't see her parents eleven months out of twelve except for Christmas. Don't be so crass."_

_Ron rolled his eyes. Yet, when Mrs. Weasley turned away to put her attention on the stove, he gave Hermione a searching look. She shook her head, showing the moment wasn't right. So they sat there, eating the sandwiches in small talk about how their respective summers had gone along._

"_Harry will be here a few days before his birthday?" Hermione asked as soon as Ron relayed the news._

"_Yeah, I tried to hear more from those Extendable Ears, but mine have gone a bit faulty. No wonder Fred and George are rich, they make 'em cheap so's the customers come back for more." Ron pulled an annoyed look._

"_For your information..."_

"_We make our extendable ears with loads of tender loving care!"_

_Ron jumped in his seat at the twins' sudden entrance. Hermione giggled at the right of them, still scaring their little brother proper. _

"_Fred, George!" Mrs. Weasley hurried forth to ruffle her identical sons' hair. "Good, you're just in time, I needed someone to degnome the garden for me. They've gotten a bit more feisty with me since you two aren't around to get rid of them."_

_The twins audibly grumbled yet did not dissent any further before loping out the back door._

"_We'll take care of 'em, mum," George called over his shoulder, exiting first._

"_Come along Ronniekins, you've got degnoming duty as well," Fred said in a chastising voice. "What about you, Hermione? Ever seen any live action degnoming before?"_

"_Well, I've only read about the practical way to do it..." Hermione trailed off, blushing._

"_There's a better way than any practical one you'll find in your books." Fred gestured for her to follow._

_Hermione gave Ron a searching look before reading his expression. He'd be a while at the table, that was for sure, and she should take this opportunity to get some, ahem, fresh air._

" '_e ow thurr inna mo'", Ron managed through a mouthful of sandwich._

_Out in the garden Hermione watched as George demonstrated the "Weasley Gnome Throw" and Fred narrated the motions._

"_...a nice wind up, like Forge is doing now, is perfect for the launch. The throw, you've got to put your body into it. It's got to make it over the hedge there." Fred grabbed up a wandering gnome as George released one letting it soar over the hedge successfully. _

"_Ah, look at the bugger," sighed George happily, "He won't be back for a while."_

_Fred clapped his hand his twin's shoulder congratulating him on a great throw. "Looks like she's out here for more than gnome throwing," George mumbled under his breath under the pretense of watching his brother pitch a gnome into the distance._

_Fred remained silent, knowing Hermione was still watching. George nodded and called to the girl still close to the Burrow's back door._

"_Looks easy enough, right?" George said to Hermione as she came near, smiling nervously. "Good, you two get the gnomes and I'll get some slug repellant from the shed. Those things are getting away with the best of mum's cabbages..." He set off towards the shed without another word._

_They threw gnomes in silence, not really knowing what to say. After a particularly good throw from Hermione, who seemed quite adept to this manual labor, she decided to break the silence._

"_Did you get my last letter?" she inquired quietly._

"_I did." he said curtly._

"_What do you–" Hermione began before Fred cut her off._

"'_Mione, can't you just tell me why we can't?" He faced her, his eyes boring into hers so pleadingly that she couldn't bear to his gaze._

_Looking at her feet she spoke in a small voice, "I won't be around for a long while, Fred, we'll see each other less than how much we've been seeing each other these last years. Besides Harry is giving up Ginny isn't he? It wouldn't be fair, my mind half on you, half on the task Dumbledore left us."_

"_You're not the chosen one, you don't have to give up anything." Fred countered, his tone a little frustrated._

"_I've already given up so much, Fred. I don't want to start something I'll lose to V-voldemort or have to give up." Hermione whispered, her voice thick with tears._

_Fred stiffened. She was doing this for him, to protect him? Shouldn't it be the other way around? He was about to open his mouth to comfort her but she went on. _

"_Harry told Ginny, at Dumbledore's funeral that Voldemort uses people. He's right. He uses loved ones as bait, for coercion. Think about what would happen if he knew about us? There's double jeopardy on you. You're Ron's brother and my..." she trailed off not being able to say 'boyfriend' since they weren't on those solid terms yet._

"_Right." He could only agree with her. He knew, when it came to Hermione Granger, he could not argue, only agree. "Then there's only one thing we could do, isn't there?"_

_Hermione looked up questioningly at him. "What?"_

"_Pretend there's nothing. Then, after this war is over, we'll have tea or something. Talk it out." Fred was surprised at his own level-headedness in the situation. What he said would probably have bee something that Hermione would say. Something practical, something hopeful. "I'll be myself, you'll be yourself. I mean that's not hard is it? Ron and George are the only ones who know about our er... relations."_

_He referred tp the letters that they had been writing to on another for the past three months. Hermione had been writing to Fred and George about their brother's bettering condition since his birthday poisoning. Somehow Fred was always writing the responses. Soon after Ron's condition got better and was released from the Hospital Wing, the letters became more personal. They were, in fact, the reason Hermione was in a good mood most of the time. They helped her put up with Ron. Sure it seemed that perhaps her attention was on Ron but that was only because he found out soon enough that Hermione was writing to his brother. _

_That's when things became clear for them. They had been missing each other all these years. Their timing was always off. Besides that, they were the best of friends. Sure, they fought often, but it was the knowledge that they were not meant for each other is what made all that underlying tension ease up. They knew where they stood with one another. Ron even laughed about the idea of Fred with his best friend. Bossy Hermione and prankster Fred. Talk about opposites..._

"_Yes, that seems to be the solution..." Hermione said resignedly, her tears were long gone, having wiped them away herself to keep they touching minimal. _

"_So don't worry if you catch me running about with another woman." Fred winked devilishly as Hermione finally looked up at him. "I'll be pretending she's you."_

_Later that day, after the garden had been degnomed and slug repelled, was when Hermione finally had a chance to speak to Ron._

"_He had the same idea as me, really." Hermione was saying as she closed the door to Ron's bedroom and made it imperturbable. "The whole pretending part."_

_Ron raised his ginger eyebrows. "Wait, we're talking about Fred, right?"_

"_Oh, ha ha, Ron. You know your brother is clever. We'll just have to wait until the war is over before we let anything happen."_

_They had taken the same seriousness that Harry had when he broke it off with Ginny. Ron, who only had a soft spot for Luna Lovegood, did not have nearly as much difficulty with his emotions as Harry and Hermione did. They sat there on Ron's bed, holding hands, lost in their own thoughts._

"_We'll have to pretend it's us." Ron said after a long while._

"_What?" _

"_I mean, look at it this way, it's always been us, hasn't it? At least, that's what it's looked like to everyone else. It wouldn't be surprising if one of these days we start looking like more. The eyes will be on us and not our families or loved ones..."_

"_You're right, that means we can't tell Harry incase Voldemort invades his mind and finds out we're faking it. He doesn't have to know." Hermione added the last part to reassure Ron's skeptical look. "He's probably expecting it'll be us anyway."_

_Ron nodded. They drew close, now hugging. They had to be strong for Harry. He didn't have much ground to walk on if they weren't a unit. The last few months for Ron and Hermione had made them more intimate than they had been in recent years. Their bond had become more noticeable, surely, to Harry and other around them, shadowing what was truly occurring beneath the surface._

"_You're going to come back alive, if it's the last thing I do, Hermione." Ron mumbled._

"_Ditto, Ron, ditto." _

_The sun blazed into the room and slowly fell, yet they remained embracing. Quietly enjoying a moment they knew would end too soon._

---

Thumbs up? Thumbs down?

xxx

pengz


	4. Prologue Part Three: The Wedding

**Last Request**

By: pengz

Disclaimer: Don't own much but the clothes on my back, really. :

A/N: While reading this 'fic, please disregard the Epilogue. I liked it, it just doesn't fit with my 'fic is all.

These memories are a jumble of Hermione's and Ron's, they reveal thoughts left initially unexpressed.

**Prologue Part Three: The Wedding**

_Ron was sure, very sure that he and Hermione had Harry fooled unto thinking something was going was sparking between him and their bookish friend. It was practiced flirting, really, nothing as complex as a new spell in school. Ron had not spent much time thinking about it as he was preoccupied by Bill and Fleur's impending nuptials. The fruits of everyone's collective labors culminated on the first sunny afternoon of August. _

_A squirmy feeling played along his skin as he entertained the thought of dancing with Luna later on, during the reception, leaving Hermione to "casually", or so he hoped it would seem as such, to get partnered up with Fred. He was pulled from these happy thoughts when he heard Fred speaking as they awaited the arrival of the guests._

"_When I get married, I won't be bothering with any of this nonsense. You can all wear what you like, and I'll put a full Body-Bind Curse on Mum until it's all over_

_Ron almost said something about Hermione not letting such a thing happen but caught himself just in time. He caught George's eye, who seemed to be thinking along the same lines as his younger brother, just as the other twin began to reply._

"_She wasn't too bad this morning..."_

* * *

"_She's great, isn't she? Always good value." Ron was smiling and intending to ask Luna to dance properly with him when Viktor Krum took Luna's recently vacated seat. _

_After exchanging words with the Quidditch star about Xenophilius, Ron decided he'd rather he have the chance to dance with Hermione. That way he could possibly have Fred take her from him and it would look quite natural. The things he did for Hermione and Fred. _

"_Come and dance." Ron said. He knew the request was abrupt but he managed to get Hermione to her feet and onto the dance floor quick enough._

"_Smooth." Hermione muttered with a small smile to Ron._

"_I do what I can." Ron shrugged nonchalantly. "Let's find Fred, I'll be he's already looking for you."_

"_No, let's dance for a while, shall we? Don't want to make it look like a handoff, do we?"_

"_Suppose not."_

_They wove gracefully between other couples for good measure. Glancing back to where they had left Harry with Viktor, Ron noticed his best friend was no longer accompanied by that great Bulgarian prat and was staring off in the general direction of Ginny, far from himself and Hermione. He suddenly regretted shouted Harry into not letting another "moment" occur with his sister: Had he not, Harry would be too preoccupied to notice a switch in partners. He then searched out Luna and Fred and was surprised to see the very same people approaching him and Hermione, dancing as well._

"_All right there, Hermione? Ron not bloodying up your toes yet, I hope?" Fred said smirking at his younger brother._

"_I dance just fine, Fred." Ron replied rolling his eyes as Hermione smiled nervously at Fred._

"_Nevertheless, I would like to relieve you of my lumbering little brother, if you'll have me." Then added for, Luna's benefit though she wasn't even paying very much attention to him, "Ron, you'll be good to Luna here. I won't have her crying to me about your lack of proper dancing abilities."_

_Now it was Hermione's turn to smirk, knowing full well that Ron would try his utmost to mind Luna's feet: He had trod on her own foot earlier._

"_Right then." Fred grinned as they switched partners quickly. "See you in a mo' Ronniekins; Luna, good luck."_

_As his brother and best friend swept away from them, Ron felt a twinge of helplessness. It was easy though, as soon as Ron began to lead the younger girl in time with the music. _

"_So, er, how has your summer been, Luna?"_

_She gazed up at Ron, her dreamy expression sending warmth and color to his cheeks. "Oh, fine. Daddy has had me researching methods to make Gurdyroot tea. We haven't found one so it's up to me to make one. It shouldn't be too difficult, really..."_

_This is what Ron liked about Luna, the ability to make sense by confusing others. It wasn't anything like Hermione's imperious lecturing and he admired it. Sure he had no idea what she was going on about, but it was truly entertaining to listen to her._

"_And you, Ron?"_

"_Just looking forward to this day, really." He half hoped Luna would get the hint yet breathed a silent sigh of relief when she did not._

"_What a nice brother you are, to look forward to Bill's wedding. I rather thought you would be indifferent about this whole affair." She smiled, her large eyes momentarily mesmerizing him. "I wish I had siblings. I could teach them about, well, everything Daddy has taught me..." She continued on, dreamily flitting from one subject to another, with Ron guiding her around the dance floor, listening as though he wouldn't hear her voice again._

* * *

"_Nice night for snogging." Fred whispered so only Hermione could hear him._

_She looked affronted for only a moment before she realized he was only yanking her wand. "Yes, seems as such." Hermione replied with a shrug just as the tempo began to dip into a slow song._

"_Well since you're not willing yet, we'll just have to add that item to our list of things to do when this damned war is over. Right behind tea and right before shagging." Then added as Hermione looked properly scandalized. "Joking, joking...we'd have to grope heavily first..."_

_Both laughing quietly to themselves as they continued to dance in a comfortable proximity from one another. Hermione could count on one hand how many times Fred had made her laugh since they met years and years ago; it made her wonder that, perhaps, if she had laughed a little easier and was more ready to break rules instead of uphold their ludicrousness how much more they could have been. At this point they were an Almost, a Maybe, a very big If._

_Then the song ended. While others began to clap and some, switch partners, Fred held onto Hermione a little longer. She pulled back first, looking steadily into Fred's eyes, hoping all that she wanted so desperately needed to say would be relayed somehow to him._

"_I better not keep George and Fleur's cousins waiting, even though they only want my ugly twin." He said solemnly. Then, giving Hermione a jolly wink, he gave a short bow before leaving her on the dance floor._

"_Keeping up appearances, isn't he?" She jumped a mile into the air just as a new, faster paced song began to sound through the fallen night. Ron stood there, right behind her, watching his brother disappear with George and two veelas to the pond beyond the Burrow._

_Hermione managed to collect herself before speaking, "And so are we. Where's Luna?"_

_Ron seemed annoyed as he spoke words he obviously did not even want to think about. "Krum asked Luna to dance. Was about to give him a piece of my mind before I saw Fred say goodbye."_

_Then, only after another song or two, everything changed as Kingsley's lynx announced the fall of the minister and the ministry and the approach of everything they stood against._

* * *

**Trainwreck729:** Yay for enjoyment! And thanks for the encouragement. 

Hope all is well with everyone else. Tip your waitresses.

xxx  
pengz 072907/905p (PAC)


	5. Prologue Part Four: The Adventures

**Last Request**

By: pengz

Disclaimer: Don't own much but the clothes on my back, really. :

A/N: While reading this 'fic, please disregard the Epilogue. I liked it, it just doesn't fit with my 'fic is all.

This part of the prologue consists of a few memories that are part of the adventure that the Golden Trio had during their adventures in _Deathly Hallows_.

**Prologue Part Four: The Adventures**

_Harry had been asleep for half an hour before Ron said anything. Hermione, who had been so quick on her feet out on the streets was slowly falling apart inside the walls of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. _

"_Hermione," he whispered hoarsely._

_Her chocolate brown eyes were bright as she looked at him. There was a defined loneliness in her stare, like a part of her world had been wrenched away from her. Then she smiled._

"_Thank you for saving my life back there." Hermione spoke in a scratchy voice. "I didn't see them move."_

"_I promised, didn't I?" Ron re__plied, taking her hand in a comforting gesture, smiling all the while. "Said I'd make sure you'd come back alive, didn't I?" _

* * *

"_She's like my sister, I love her like a sister and I reckon she feels the same way about me. It's always been like that. I thought you knew."_

_Ron was thick at times, especially about feelings, but he wasn't Harry's best friend for the past six years for nothing: He knew Harry and Hermione had a platonic relationship. The only comfort in any of the words that Harry had spoken to him were that he was convinced that Ron was in love with Hermione. Hell, he had even fooled that wretched piece of Voldemort's malevolent soul into the same mind set! _

_He figured the thing thought that he had feelings other than friendship for Hermione because she was all he could think about all these weeks. The fact that he had made a promise and then deserted the one he had made it to was always on the forefront of his mind. Then, whenever he had worn the damn thing, in turn with Harry and Hermione, he could only think of doing it for Hermione. Truth be told, he had pushed Luna from his mind knowing that it was the only way he could help with the labors of their hunt for the horcruxes._

_Tears misted his eyes and flooded his throat, thinking about how badly his absence had affected Hermione and put strain on both her an Harry. Not to mention the major hindrance his blunder had put in their path to destroy the horcruxes. He had never felt so ashamed of himself in all these seventeen, almost eighteen, years of living. _

* * *

_She was still angry in the morning, feeling like she had not hit Ron enough the night previous. Deep down inside she was highly relieved that he was back, of course, but it still did not forgive his desertion of the group, of his promise to her. Sighing deeply she threw Ron another dirty look for good measure, Hermione returned to her bunk after agreeing to visit the Lovegoods for answers._

_Though Harry and Ron had lowered their voices she could still hear them faintly as they muttered together at the mouth of the tent. "You only agreed to try and get back in her good books." Harry mumbled at Ron._

"_All's fair in love and war, and this is a bit of both. Cheer up, it's the Christmas holidays, Luna'll be home!"_

_Ron's excited tone nearly made Hermione cross the tent and smack him in the forehead: To be so tactless would be Ron's undoing, she was sure of it. She, too, was glad to be visiting Luna, a familiar face and some answers was what they really needed now._

* * *

_She stirred under the covers, pain still prickling her here and there. _

"_She will be fine now, Ron." came s soft voice somewhere above her. A door closed and all was silent. _

_There was a sniffle to her left. Cracking an eye open, Hermione saw Ron, looking worse for wear. _

"_We're at Bill and Fleur's." He supplied at her confused expression._

"_Broken a few things, haven't I?" Hermione whispered with a weak smile. Her bones, actually, were healing quickly with Fleur's ministrations and Skele-grow._

"_I don't see how you can do that, after what you've gone through." Ron said, his voice crackling. "I thought Harry and I wouldn't be able to save you this time. I thought you'd end up like the Longbottoms... or worse."_

"_There are more terrifying things upon us, Ron." She had come to a sitting position with his help and now drew her limbs close to her, hugging herself. "I'm so scared."_

_He looked into her eyes as she said it. The determination that was once alight there was now dominated by fear. Even in the warmth of the cottage, Ron felt a chill at her words._

"_Hermione," he said, climbing onto the bed to soothe her into a hug, "We have to be strong, alright? For us, for Harry. We can't help him is we're broken" he grimaced at the unintended pun, "metaphorically. We can't help Harry end this if we're not a team."_

_She sighed. "I know he needs us. We'll end this so we can finally come home, together." They sat in silence for a moment. "I thought I heard Luna..?" _

_As if on cue, there was a knock on the door and a dreamy voice on the other side. "I think there in here, Dean." It opened to reveal none other than Dean Thomas and Luna Lovegood._

"_Hey, you alright, Hermione?" Dean asked with a sympathetic look._

"_I've been better." She replied softly as Ron stood to exit the room. _

"_Should see where Harry is getting to. Coming, Dean?" Ron nodded to Luna in a silent greeting as she gave him a small smile. The boys left, leaving Luna and Hermione alone._

_Hermione could see that other younger girl had lost a significant amount of weight. Yet, despite her imprisonment at Malfoy Manor, she still held her odd demeanor. She patted a spot on the bed next to her, motion for Luna to sit._

"_Seeing loved ones is such a tonic, like a good cup of Gurdyroot Tea."_

_Hermione couldn't help but smile at Luna's words: This must be why Ron couldn't help but like her._

* * *

**Emilytheweird:** I love them too!

**nomanslandvicki:** Thank you. If I told you, that would take the fun out of writing it. ;)

**Trainwreck729:** I wouldn't be so sure about the inevitable.

* * *

Anywhoo! Thanks, everyone for reading and these three for reviewing, it means a lot. I've got the last prologue in the works so sit tight and we'll get this thing rolling out of the pensieve Oh, and I know these are short, but I'm not the best writer, I just do this for fun so don't send flames on length or yeah...

xxx  
pengz


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